Sunday, August 10, 2008

Are you at all familiar with NOTES (natural-orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery)? It's when doctors try to remove internal organs without making external incisions. They enter through natural orifices. You heard me. That's exactly where they put the instruments.

Well, maybe not exactly. Doctors at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center have been pulling gallbladders through uteruses (uterii?) for the past year now, and have plans to start surgeries through the mouth or rectum in the future.

Okay, there have only been two surgeries of their type so far. Both gallbladders, both removed through the uterus. The big news about the latest procedure is that before, they had to cut external holes in the patient to see what they were doing. This time, there were no external incisions.

I'd be more enthusiastic about it if I wasn't worried that it was just paving the way for the killer robots to have an easier time plucking out your eyes without any fuss.

About Me

I'm Stanley! Part-time pundit and opinionated pedestrian, I use this blog to shine a spotlight on unsung breakthroughs. What's an unsung breakthrough? Well, if you read about it on MSNBC or see it on television, then it probably won't end up here.